New species discovered that belonged to the Ice Age in a cenote of Tulum

15/01/2019

Discovery of a new endemic species from the Yucatan Peninsula that belonged to the Ice Age, in the submerged caves of Tulum, Quintana Roo.

Discovery of a new endemic species from the Yucatan Peninsula that belonged to the Ice Age, in the submerged caves of Tulum, Quintana Roo. Photo: Pixabay

A new species of feline was found in the Cenote Pit, north of Tulum. According to the research of the Institute of the Prehistory of America, it could be an endemic species of the Peninsula that became extinct in the Ice Age.

The animal in question was named Panthera Balamoides in reference to the word "balam", the name by which the Maya identified the jaguar. It is said that it was a type of giant cat that lived about 10,000 years ago and was a native of the region (what at that time was considered the Yucatan Peninsula).

"We describe a new species of feline or panterino that we found a few years ago working with the INAH Quintana Roo and it is until now, after a while, that we managed to publish and describe this species from an arm fragment of this species. great cat "Jerónimo Avilés Olguín, founder of the Institute of the Prehistory of America.

The finding, made by Sarah R. Stinnesbeck; Wolfgang Stinnesbeck; Eberhard Frey; Jerónimo Avilés Olguín; Carmen Rojas Sandoval; Adriana Velázquez Morlet and Arturo H. González, was annexed to a catalog of 30 species discovered in the region and adds to the past discoveries of a sloth and a peccary, both extinct, like the Balamoides, more than 10,000 years ago.